Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah (Malay: Langkawi Permata Kedah), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) located some 30 km off the coast of northwestern Malaysia and a few kilometres south of Ko Tarutao, adjacent to the Thai border. Politically, it is an administrative district of Kedah, with Kuah as its largest town. Pantai Cenang is the island's most popular beach and tourist area.
The island was recaptured from the Siamese in 1837. In 1840-1841, the Sultan of Kedah, who went into exile after the Siamese attacks, was allowed to return by the Siamese. Langkawi islands' population recovered afterwards. However, the Orang Laut who fled after the Siamese attacks did not return.[18] In 1909, the islands came under British rule following the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. The middle of the channel between Tarutao National Park and Langkawi became the Siamese border, with Tarutao to the north forming part of Siam, while the Langkawi islands to the south came under British rule. During the World War II, Siam took control briefly as British Malaya fell to the Japanese.
Langkawi was a haven for pirates who attacked junks in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca. In a series of operations, between December 1945 and March 1946, the British cleared the pirates' land bases on Langkawi and Tarutao.[19] The British continued to rule until Malaya gained its independence in 1957.
Langkawi remained a quiet backwater until 1986, when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad transformed it into a major tourist resort, helping to plan many of the islands' buildings himself.[20] Mahsuri's seven-generation curse was said to have lifted as a seventh generation descendant of Mahsuri was born in the Thai province of Phuket.[21] The island rapidly grew as a tourist destination, and by 2012, it received over three million tourists a year.[22][23]
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